Element k Week 3

Element k Week 3

Element K Week 3

BSA 310
9/27/2011

What role do accounting systems play in the modern enterprise? Ho w has the development of complex IT systems affected accounting work?
Accounting systems play a very large role in a modern enterprise system. The accounting system is connected to all departments within a company and controls many aspects of a company.   Accounting and finance control and manage cash flows, assets, liabilities, and net income or profit as well as issue financial statements to regulatory agencies (Efraim Turban, 2010). I believe that the development of complex IT systems has had positive and negative effects. The positive is that a company can use computers to store all there accounting information. The data is easy to contain and accounting software takes some of the hard work out of conventional record keeping. The negative effects can be that a company could potentially lose information from hardware failure. Another problem could be the security of the sensitive information.

Discuss the need to integrate accounting systems with those in the rest of the enterprise. Why would such systems need to have constant data feeds from throughout the enterprise?
Integrating accounting systems with the rest of the enterprise will help to stream line a company’s budget. Having an accounting system intergraded with the entire system will give the company the ability to create reports to show company profits, control inventory, and show what the company may be spending too much money on, and what they may not be spending enough on. The accounting system would have to have a constant connection to all other systems so that the information needed for the financial aspects of the company will be up to date.

References
Efraim Turban, P. T. (2010). nformation Technology for Management: Improving Strategic and Operational Performance, 8th Edition. John Wiley & Sons.